When the Bruins kicked off their year with a 3-1 win over the Capitals, it was on the back of their top weapons. Their top line was on the ice and scored all three of the B’s goals, and goaltender Jeremy Swayman stood on his head.
There’s no denying that’s going to be a gigantic part of their blueprint most nights. But Marco Sturm knows better than to think it can be the blueprint every night. Especially on the second leg of a back-to-back like the Bruins found themselves in for Thursday night’s home opener against Chicago.
“Our body language is important, our having life on the bench, [and] feeding off the crowd is important,” Sturm said following the win. “That’s what I remember about the Boston Bruins, and that’s what we need now.”
Here’s a look at the 985TheSportsHub.com 3 Stars of the game…
3rd Star: Nikita Zadorov
Oct 9, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov (91) checks Blackhawks center Ryan Donato (8) during the overtime at TD Garden. (Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images)
Not only was Thursday night the second leg of a back-to-back for the Bruins, but the club did not arrive back in Boston from Washington until 2 a.m. Thursday morning while the Blackhawks were already resting in Boston. And then the B’s lost Hampus Lindholm to a lower-body injury at the midway point of the first period. In other words, this was looking like a night where the Boston blue line could be gassed against a speed-and-skill Chicago group.
Instead, the club got an absolutely monstrous performance from Nikita Zadorov, who was an absolutely punishing force on every single shift.
Deployed for 25:11 of time on ice (his fourth-highest ice time since joining the Bruins last season), the 6-foot-6, left-shooting Zadorov finished this contest with a game-high seven hits, including a thunderous smash on the Blackhawks’ Sam Rinzel on a third-period penalty kill.
That hit came with Charlie McAvoy in the box on an iffy-at-best penalty, and Zadorov’s hit completely changed the tenor of Chicago’s power-play opportunity, with an absolute melee ensuing just moments later, and with some of Chicago’s power-play skaters ending up in the box with Zadorov.
Zadorov then capped his night with a tie-up behind the Boston net that allowed Fraser Minten to grab the puck and go end-to-end for what ended up being the game-winning, overtime snipe on Chicago’s Arvid Soderblom.
2nd Star: Fraser Minten
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – OCTOBER 9: Fraser Minten #93 of the Boston Bruins celebrates his overtime goal against Arvid Soderblom #40 of the Chicago Blackhawks. (Rich Gagnon/Getty Images)
How the Bruins utilize Fraser Minten and his line this season is going to be interesting, especially when the team is at home opposed to the road. With the benefit of last change on their side when at TD Garden, Sturm and the Bruins can control Minten’s deployment a bit better, and try to put the 21-year-old in more offensive-minded situations. I think you saw a bit more of that on Thursday night, and Minten’s line with Mikey Eyssimont and Tanner Jeannot on the wings had a much more noticeable night as a result.
But, of course, the talk of this one does come back to Minten and his overtime snipe. And, I mean, what a thing of beauty. Poised with speed, a little shimmy, getting the defenseman to bite knowing that Morgan Geekie and his patented one-timer was looming to the left of Minten and then bang. Game.
A sneaky important thing for Minten in his one? He took two big hits in the third period of this game, but kept plugging along. I know that’s part of life in the NHL, but it didn’t derail him from continuing to push and drive his line.
1st Star: Joonas Korpisalo
Oct 9, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins goaltender Joonas Korpisalo (70) makes a save during overtime against the Chicago Blackhawks at TD Garden. (Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images)
While he will openly acknowledge that he is here to be the No. 2 goaltender, Joonas Korpisalo wanted to play more a year ago. The Bruins themselves acknowledged that they probably should’ve played more a season ago. Given all of that, it seemed absolutely imperative that Korpisalo began his second season in Boston with a strong outing to instill the confidence the Bruins need to have in his game to indeed play him more.
Consider Thursday night a massive ‘check’ in that regard.
Looking at the box score, Korpisalo’s 21-of-24 line isn’t going to light the world on the fire. But these were some timely saves for Boston, and that’s ultimately what’s going to be most important to a team whose structure is going to be predicated on limiting shots as a whole. And Korpisalo especially strong in the overtime frame, with a pair of big-time stops on Frank Nazar and then Connor Bedard back-to-back, which set the stage for the Minten game-winning goal.
Korpisalo finished his night with saves on all four high-danger shots he faced in this contest, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.